1
After the encounter with Mai, Bakura headed back to the apartment he, Ryou, and Ryou's dad all shared. But it was mainly he and Ryou that actually LIVED in the godforsaken place. Ryou's dad was out nearly all the time getting himself drunk with chilled sake in the Asahi Bar. But whenever he did come home, he was always abusing Ryou. Since his lover had been showing very evident signs of pregnancy, Bakura had been taking the abuse and handling it very well. Of course, there was still the occasional bruise on the cheek, the glass cuts on the arms, or the bite marks on the neck, but other than that, life was pretty much fairly normal.
When he got home, Ryou was sleeping peacefully on the bed where they had all their fun. He was sleeping on his side, faced away from the door Bakura had just entered. The silence wasn't tranquil and peaceful like it usually was whenever Ryou was sleeping alone, but instead, it was ominous and foreboding, warning Bakura not to come any nearer. Usually when Bakura felt that strange presence, it most likely meant something was terribly wrong. He crept around to the other side of the bed quietly, trying very hard to ignore the dread that swelled up in his stomach as he got closer to his other half. Once on the other side, Bakura kneeled down on the carpet and gazed at his aibou. The light's white bangs were covering his face, so the dark pushed them back so he could see his face better. Then he gasped. His aibou's left eye was purple and swollen shut, his right cheek was red, and there was a trail of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Then he heard something he had been dreading to hear: Metal spiked boots walking heavily up the stairs, and chain mailed fists banging on the wooden door. He held his breath in silence, hoping the alcoholic wouldn't bang open the door, for two reasons: 1) He and Ryou would then be in serious trouble, and 2) The insurance most likely wouldn't cover this. After a few minutes of silence, Bakura tiptoed to the door and opened it a crack. Nobody was there. He sighed in relief, wondering if it was just imagination, but as soon as he had shut the door, he felt coarse rope being tied around his hands and ankles. He twisted around to see who it was, knowing already, but just for clarification. The last thing he saw before the whiskey bottle smashed over his head was a pair of red, bloodshot, unfocused eyes.
Nile green eyes fluttered open, and Bakura woke reluctantly with a pounding headache. But instead of seeing the yellow ceiling, he saw white hair tinged with pink and red. But this wasn't his hair, he was sure of it. He could tell by the scent of the locks that this was his aibou's hair. Ryou's hair always smelled like wild mountain strawberries, while his own hair smelled like the ocean. The tomb robber waited for his eyes to adjust to his surroundings, realizing it was still daytime, then sat up, careful not to harm his light. He ran his hand through his hair once, then focused his eyes and examined his aibou. He gasped in shock and surprise. There were 5 bloody circles on his light's back, and his pale arm was stretched out over Bakura's body, covering as much as it could, like the light was trying to protect him. Bakura turned over the other one and felt his wrist. There was a tiny flutter of a pulse, and a tear fell from his green eye onto the thin pajamas, moistening the bloodstained hand in the process. Ryou's eyelids fluttered, and with a great effort, the eyelids parted to reveal hazy brown eyes. Bakura choked back a sob. Ryou had already been abused once, why did his son of a bitch father have to abuse him again? Couldn't the drunk see that his only kid was pregnant? Didn't he care? Didn't he appreciate the fact that Ryou was pregnant? Didn't he...There were too many questions to ask, so Bakura made an attempt to at least start a simplistic conversation with the fallen angel that was resting in his lap.
"Ryou...why? Why did you save me?"
"I...I...d...didn't w...want...y...you to d...die."
"But you're the one with the baby!" Bakura was yelling now, trying to drown out his thoughts that Ryou might not live through this and also trying to see through his tears.
"B...but y...yo...you're t...the f...fat...father t...too...ARGHH!" Ryou's back arched, unmindful of the bullets embedded there and his angelic face became distorted with pain. Bakura's eyes widened with horror. This was bad, he could feel it. What was wrong with his precious Ryou? Why was he in so much pain?
"Ryou...what's wrong?" Bakura asked in a whisper.
"BAKURA! IT...REALLY...HURTS!" Ryou yelled, tears running down his cheeks. It literally destroyed Bakura to see his aibou in so much pain at one time, especially if he didn't know what to do. Ryou was also having a hard time breathing, and his gaze shot Bakura with a mixture of anxiety and pain. He couldn't not know what to do, yet he had no experience with this type of thing. Think, Bakura, think! the yami told himself desperately. In lack of anything better to do, he whispered soothingly in the pained light's ear,
"Just trust me." Ryou's sobs cut through the air like a sharp knife cutting butter, but somehow he managed to choke back,
"I trust you, koi. I trust you so much."